Cats vs. Crows: Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle | Manga Mondays

Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!

It's been a hot minute since my last Manga Mondays post, but I'm very excited for this one! Last Thursday, I went to see the Haikyu!! movie in theaters with my friend Angela. Haikyu!! is the anime that we first really bonded over, so it felt extra special to see the movie with her! 

Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle is the first of two movies scheduled to release. This movie follows the Karasuno vs. Nekoma game at nationals, the first true game between the two teams. Hinata and Kenma are good friends and fated rivals, and this game will determine who will ultimately stand on top, and for whom it will be "game over" for good.

We saw the English dub, which was kind of jarring because we've only ever watched the sub with this anime. Mostly because the dub wasn't our cup of tea, but I have to admit, the longer the movie went on the less I was bothered by it. Does this mean I'll start watching the dub with the rest of the anime? Probably not. The times for the sub were both very late, and also completely full, so the only way we were going to see the movie in theaters is if we watched the dub.

I read the manga chapters corresponding to this game the week before seeing the movie, so it was all fresh in my head, but Angela hadn't read the manga in years and was pretty surprised by a lot of what happened. It was fun to watch her reactions to certain plays, flashbacks, and memorable lines. I even bought us t-shirts to wear to the movie (Karasuno for her, Nekoma for me) so we could have an ultimate experience. Since going to the movies isn't something I do very often, it felt good to go all out for something.

For anyone who is planning on watching the movie in theaters, keep in mind there is an after credit scene that's very important for the next movie! It has been confirmed that they're already working on the final movie, but there is yet to be a release date. We can assume that the movie will be about the quarter-finals, and I'm concerned that the creators are going to nix the entire time-skip in favor of ending the anime when the third years graduate. I don't love that idea, but I'd rather they do that and do the quarter-final game justice, then try and squeeze 100+ chapters of the manga into a single 90 minute movie.

I had a great time watching, and I hope that you all enjoy Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle just as much as I did!